Sara Eyestone

American Artist Sara Eyestone

“I was in second grade at Mountain School in the early 1950’s when I visited the Santa Fe studio of Pansy Stockton. She was so impressive; her style was different than anyone I knew and better than most and her studio was a feast for the eyes. For example, rather than pile her yarns together, she grouped them by colors in containers, which was as visually interesting as the unusual thought behind her orderly plan. Purples with greens and turquoise, hot pink with scarlet and coral, and whites with whatever was left. I remember telling Miss. Stockton that when I grew up I wanted to be just like her. She gave me incredible advice which I have shared with hundreds of other children throughout my life: The secret to making my childhood dreams materialize was simply to remember them! So many grown-ups don’t. Pansy Stockton also suggested that I keep a diary, which I do to this day. It is the basis for the memoir I am writing.”

Sara Eyestone is a self-taught artist who has painted all her life. She is known for her elegant floral oil paintings and sensitive family portraits created with unusual combinations of glorious colors. For years she has painted exclusively on commission for private collectors the world over. Prior to that, the artist had 50 one-woman exhibitions, including a national tour and a retrospective at The New Jersey State Museum in Trenton. Her paintings are published on international art posters and Caspari note cards, and these reproductions are featured in more than 500 museum shops from South Africa to Japan.

Sara Eyestone was born artistic and had a privileged childhood in Los Alamos, New Mexico as the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Shreffler. In her 20s, Eyestone had four children, moved to the Jersey Shore -- an hour by train from New York City -- and launched her career with weekly trips to New York. She was discovered by the art publishing industry, and the global exposure of reproductions of her originals brought significant opportunities her way with galleries, magazines, and television appearances.

Twenty-five years later, Sara Eyestone and her husband sold their home, closed her Jersey Shore studio, packed a suitcase of art supplies and a smaller suitcase of warm-weather clothing, and left the East Coast for an uncharted journey that took them to places they had only dreamed about. They spent winters in Hawaii; traveled to Holland when the tulips bloomed or to Tuscany if it was raining in Paris and Giverny. The two of them spent time in Mexico en route to Santa Fe every summer, with the artist painting on location everywhere they went. “We were never more liberated!” said the artist with a hearty laugh. Their adventure lasted for six and a half years before they discovered San Antonio and set down roots for the next decade in an urban yet secluded gallery/residence downtown on the spectacular River Walk.

Today the artist is 70 years old. She continues to paint on commission for private collectors but has begun another new passage in her life, living with her husband in a Santa Fe loft near the Opera. She has taken the coveted position as Art Curator at the historic La Posada hotel in Santa Fe, famous for being the first public place in New Mexico to feature art for sale. Georgia O’Keeffe showed and sold her work there until 1957. Today her own work is installed with other world-class, living, American artists such as Bruce Clovis Smith, Jill Pankey, Don Ward, Betty Nance Smith, Liz Maness and Mary Sheppard.

Sara Eyestone teaches oil painting and memoir writing classes at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and leads a weekly memoir writing group at La Posada. She also teaches private oil painting classes there. Her autobiography and a documentary about her life and work are underway.

For more information about Sara Eyestone, contact her at La Posada, extension 7668, or 505-954-9668. Or reach her at 505-577-4991, or email her at saraeyestone@yahoo.com. Visit her website at www.saraeystone.com.